Five-Day Jail For Slapping Pupil

Five-Day Jail For Slapping Pupil 19 Jan 2009, 2334 hrs IST, TNN Ahmedabad: Sixteen-years after he slapped his student, a teacher in Dhandhuka will now have to undergo a five-day jail term as the Supreme Court has upheld an order passed by the Gujarat High Court's order. However, this was not just another case of a teacher's punishment gone awry. The student had committed suicide in the same evening, after he was slapped and scolded by the teacher for dirtying his scooter. The class X student, Arvind Purshottam belonged to the Dalit community and the teacher, Hasmukh Shah, was accused of humiliating him by making casteist remarks. Shah is a teacher at Birla & Harjivandas High School and also a supervisor in its hostel. On July 1, 1992, Arvind was playing on Shah's scooter in the morning at the hostel's office. When Shah arrived, he found the scooter in bad shape. In a fit of anger, Shah slapped Arvind and abused him roundly. Later in the evening, Arvind committed suicide. Arvind's father lodged a complaint against Shah, accusing him of abating suicide. A rural court in Ahmedabad conducted the trial and convicted Shah to 10 years in 1996. The teacher moved Gujarat High Court, which reduced the jail to five days for beating the student and asked him to pay Rs 20,000 to Arvind's father towards compensation. A division bench of Justices JR Vora and ZK Saiyed reduced Shah's punishment. Later, Shah approached the Apex court against HC's order, but a bench of Chief Justices KG Balakrishnan and P Sathasivam held the punishment awarded by HC as correct. The SC and HC have observed while dealing with the case that the teachers have no right to beat students and they are not supposed to award corporal punishment.

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